


What Should I Call You?

by asofthesea



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Kid Peter Parker, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter-centric, Tony Stark Has Daddy Issues, Worried Tony Stark, at least for the first part, then it is kind of both of them centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-30
Updated: 2018-01-12
Packaged: 2019-01-07 02:44:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12224124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asofthesea/pseuds/asofthesea
Summary: Peter struggles with what he should call Tony as their relationship progresses.





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

> Please note that this does not follow the timeline of MCU because I wanted to fudge on the numbers a bit, but it really doesn't make that big of a difference. Also this does not follow the canon, but some of the scenes are based off of canon scenes.

“May,” Peter shouted excitedly, “you’ll never guess what happened!”

May smiled and shook her head. The eight-year-old was always hyper. She was glad that he was talkative and energetic, it did take him a while to bounce back from his parents’ death two years ago.

May asked, “What happened Peter?”

“Iron Man saved me! He even told me that I did a good job!”

May sighed, she didn’t want to ruin Peter’s good mood. She just nodded and turned back around to the stove. That kid sure had an active imagination, and the therapist he saw said it was because he missed his parents so he was imagining that they had survived. So far though, all of his stories had been centered around his parents. May decided that she would talk to Ben about it later.

Then May turned her attention back to Peter, who seemed to be coloring. Peter loved coloring, and May knew that she would soon have a new photo on the fridge.

“What are you drawing there, Peter?”

Peter looked up from his drawing and said, “I’m drawing a picture of Iron Man. I want to give it to him to say thanks,” then the kids adds as an afterthought, “I think that not a lot of people draw him pictures.”

Peter’s head went back down to the drawing. May saw him stick his tongue out, something he often did in concentration, though he hadn’t done is as often as he started to get older. May knew he was serious about this. Iron Man must be this kid’s hero.

 

He didn’t know what to say, he really didn’t. After all, Tony Stark was in his apartment.

Peter was shocked, to say the least.

Sure, he was Spider-Man and all, but this was Tony Freaking Stark! This man was a billionaire and a superhero!

Honestly, Peter knew he could die happy just being graced with his presence. “Hey, hey Mr. Stark.”

Peter felt so stupid, he hadn’t introduced himself yet, “I’m Peter.”

“Tony,” he said motioning to himself. Tony seemed way too informal, Peter barely knew the man.

Well, actually that wasn’t true. He knew a lot about Tony Stark, and he couldn’t believe that Mr. Stark was here, talking to him. He was just Peter Parker, what could Tony Stark possibly want with someone like him? 

Wait a second.

Did Mr. Stark know he was Spider-Man? How? He thought he had covered his tracks. He had been smart, but maybe, Mr. Stark had just been smarter.

No, he was not going to be the first to bring it up. He certainly wasn’t going to bring it up in front of Aunt May. He wasn’t going to assume that Mr. Stark knew he was Spider-Man. 

“So um, what-” Peter stumble over himself, having no idea what to say, “why are you here?”

“It’s simple really, I want to offer you an internship with Stark Industries.”

“Wow,” May said, voicing his thoughts. He didn’t look like he was kidding, not at all. Peter knew he wasn’t dumb, but he didn’t think he was smart enough for Mr. Stark to personally offer him an internship with Stark Industries. After all, he was sure there were kids out there who had spent years perfecting their application just to get considered for an internship at Stark Industries. Also, Stark Industries wasn’t known for giving out many internships.

“I know it’s a lot to think about, but I really would like to persuade you. Can I talk to the kid alone?”

“Yeah, sure,” Aunt May said.

Peter led Mr. Stark to his bedroom, and he felt weird. He felt like he was the guest instead of the other way around. Peter watched as the other man locked the door, weird.

“Are you seriously here to talk about an internship?” Peter brought his hand up to rub the back of his neck.

“No, I want to talk about the fact that you are Spider-Man.”

Okay, wow. So yeah, he wasn’t going to dance around the subject like Peter was expecting him to. Upfront, like he didn’t have time for pleasantries, which he might not.

“That’s crazy. I’m just a fifteen-year-old kid. Do you honestly think that I could do all that cool stuff Spider-Man can do? I mean, come on, I can barely run the mile without passing out.”

Lie, lie, lies. He totally could run a mile and not break a sweat. The old Peter, however, wasn’t such an athletic guy.

“Really?” Mr. Stark said as he looked up. Oh shit. He raised one eyebrow and gave Peter an unimpressed look. 

“Is that the hiding spot?”

Peter sighed and said, “Fine, maybe I’m Spider-Man, why do you care, Mr. Stark?”

 

Peter wasn’t sure how many times he’d heard the phrase, “I told you kid, it’s Tony.”

He was trying to start to correct himself, but he was so used to Mr. Stark. It was just in his nature, and he was trying to reverse it. Habits are hard to break though, but he was trying and the only way to get better was through practice. At least, that’s what he kept telling himself.

A voice pulled him from his thoughts, “Peter, can you hand me the screwdriver?”

“Yeah, here you go Mr, Sta- I mean Tony.”

Peter watched as Tony worked on his suit. He had called Peter over and asked if he wanted to work on his suit with him. Peter, of course, had accepted. He was still surprised that Tony hadn’t cut off all communication from Peter once he didn’t need him anymore. 

Tony had been working on his suit a lot. He must have made it last minute and had to make a lot of repairs. That was what Peter originally thought, anyways. Tony had told him that he needed to make upgrades to ensure Peter’s safety. Whatever. Peter could take care of himself without all the fancy upgrades and he didn’t want to be treated like a child that needed to be cared for and have his hand held.

Peter was appreciative that Tony was giving him this really nice suit, don’t get him wrong, but he didn’t think that he honestly needed a protocol in case he was below ground for more than 20 minutes while in the suit.

Peter loved this, he hadn’t had someone like Tony to hang out with in a long time. He had and loved May, but he had felt like a piece of him was missing when Ben died. It scared him to even think it, but it felt like Tony was starting to fill that hole. He knew it was probably because both of his father figures so far had died. It scared him that Tony had become somewhat of a father figure to him and he wondered what Tony would think if he knew that Peter thought of him that way.

They worked comfortably together with Tony explaining why he was doing the things he was doing to the suit. Peter listened carefully, soaking up every word that Tony was saying. Peter was scared of how much he was starting to care for Tony, but he was too excited to stop himself from caring.

 

“Peter just eat your breakfast.”

Tony was extra bossy today. It was probably because Peter had gotten hurt yesterday on patrol. Tony had insisted that Peter stay the night in the extra bedroom just in case something had happened during the night. It was all being blown out of proportion, it was just a few bruises, a broken wrist, and a concussion. Peter would be fine in a few days.

“Okay,” Peter sighed as he ate. Truth be told, he was really hungry, but he wasn’t going to let Tony know that. Peter slowly ate his food while Tony kept a close eye on him but pretending to be reading the paper. Peter had never seen Tony read the paper, he was more of an electronic person and they both knew it. Still, Tony pretended to read.

Peter didn’t like the silence, he never really did. He asked, “So, when am I allowed to go back on patrol?”

Tony shot a glance at Peter and said, “Not for a while, those injuries need to heal and you need time off anyways. I know you got those injuries because you were out late and tired, you need to rest up.”

Peter sighed and said, “It’s not that big of a deal, I promise.”

Tony huffed in response and said, “If it’s ‘not that big of a deal,’ then why did Karen tell me that you needed medical assistance? She doesn’t do that for every injury, which makes me think that it is a bigger deal than you think it is.”

Peter was tired, and Tony could see it on his face. “Alright kiddo, you should probably get some sleep and your aunt will want to see you. I’ll have Happy drive you home.”

“But I just woke up,” Peter protested. 

Tony remained silent as he got up and walked Peter to the elevator. Peter seemed annoyed that he had to leave and Tony didn’t want him to leave either. He also didn’t want Peter’s aunt to blow up his phone if she didn’t see her nephew soon.

Peter walked into the elevator and Tony reminded him, “Peter, I know your aunt is going to bombard you with questions, but you need to make sure that you get enough sleep this weekend. Also, enough food. If you need anything call me.”

“Will do,” Peter said as he pressed the button for the lobby.

“Remember, rest and eat.”

Peter rolled his eyes at Tony’s overprotectiveness and said, “Whatever, Dad.”

It took Peter a second to realize what he had said, and when he did he looked up to see Tony’s confused expression. Neither said a thing as they stared at each other, not sure what to do in this situation. Then, the elevator doors closed between them.


	2. Part Two

Another successful night on the town.

Three muggings stopped, two cats saved from trees, one car crash avoided and he still had time to do his homework. 

He decided he better get home soon so he didn’t fail his test tomorrow. Plus, May had been pushy and had been forcing him to come home sooner. He stopped to rest on top of a building before he webbed home. He felt a vibration and sighed. He already knew who was calling him.

Peter took out his phone and watched as it went to voicemail. He would have never thought of ignoring Tony’s calls before, but now he was just too embarrassed to answer. He had called the man dad, what was he supposed to say? He just wished he could erase what he said but he couldn’t. He hated how he couldn’t hang out with Tony anymore because he had screwed up and called him dad. 

Peter’s phone vibrated again and he realized that Tony left a voicemail. Peter raised an eyebrow at that, so far it had just been texts and calls but he hadn’t left a voicemail. It wouldn’t do any harm, so he figured he may as well listen to it.

He dialed his voicemail and waited as he pressed all the right numbers to hear Tony’s voice.

“Hey, kid. Listen, I know you’re ignoring me, and I know why you are. I get it, you’re embarrassed, but I want you to know that I don’t care, Peter. It was a simple slip of the tongue that we can just pretend never happened. I know you’re listening to this and I wanted to invite you over to the tower because I would like to upgrade your suit. Come over after school tomorrow and we’ll talk. One more thing-”

That’s moment when the line cuts. 

Peter sighed. He really missed hanging out with Tony. If Tony said that they could pretend that it had never happened, then that would be what he would do. He knew it might be awkward at first, but they would get over it, eventually.

Hopefully.

“Hey Karen, could you do one quick scan of the city for me?”

“Yes, of course, Peter,” Karen replies then a few seconds later, “Scan complete.”

“And?”

“And what, Peter?”

Peter rolled his eyes, he sometimes forgot how straight-forward Karen was. “Are there any crimes going on I could stop?”

“There is one crime in particular that sticks out to me.”

“Tell me about it.”

“There seems to be a drug exchange in occurrence 15 blocks east of you. It also seems that the building they are standing next to is where they concoct their drugs, often referred to as a ‘lab.’ Would you like me to alert the authorities?”

“Give me fifteen minutes, then alert them.”

 

Tony remembers watching the kid standing in the elevator, stunned at the words that came out of his own mouth. Tony hadn’t known how to act in that situation. He never thought that he would be anything close to a parent to anyone, but here he was.

All he could think about since it happened is what he has been referring to as “the incident.” He hasn’t told anyone else about the incident, of course. He knows how embarrassed the kid would be if he told anyone else.

He knew he shouldn’t stop talking to the kid, it would only make him feel like he did something wrong. Peter was perfect and Tony didn’t want the kid to think that he had messed up or made Tony angry, because he hadn’t.

Peter did, however, make Tony realize something. He was starting to care about this kid, a lot. Okay, he had cared for Peter since he met him, but how could he not? The kid was always so happy and energetic, he was everything Tony wasn’t. 

Tony decides that he just needs to call Peter. Well, he has been calling Peter, but the kid never answers. Tony doesn’t want to push him, he wants Peter to come to him. He just needs to let the kid know that Tony isn’t mad at him or upset.

He decides that even though Peter probably won’t answer, he will leave a message. Tony Stark rarely leaves messages, they always seemed like a waste of time to him, but he needed to make sure Peter could hear the sincerity in his voice when he told him he wasn’t mad.

Tony picked up his phone and dialed Peter. He waited as the phone rang, tapping his foot impatiently. He was Tony Stark and he didn’t like waiting for others, but he would wait for Peter.

The phone finally went to voicemail and Tony listened to Peter’s recorded message then started his own, “Hey, kid. Listen, I know you’re ignoring me, and I know why you are. I get it, you’re embarrassed, but I want you to know that I don’t care, Peter,” all I care about is you, “It was a simple slip of the tongue that we can just pretend never happened,” he realized his message would be useless unless he prompted the kid to come and see him so he added, “I know you’re listening to this and I wanted to invite you over to the tower because I would like to upgrade your suit. Come over after school tomorrow and we’ll talk. One more thing-”

The line cut him off before he could finish his thought. It was probably a good thing. Peter didn’t need to know that he thought that it was okay if he wanted to call him dad. Peter didn’t need to know that Tony in the depths of his mind, had started to think of Peter like a son. It would only make things more awkward between them and neither of them needed that.

He really hoped that Peter did come over after school tomorrow, he missed the kid. After everything that happened, Tony was ready to drink himself to his death, but this kid changed something inside him. It’s like Peter gave Tony a purpose. Someone had to make sure the kid didn’t get himself killed, and there weren’t many people he would trust with the kid’s safety.

None, to be exact. He didn’t even trust himself, and he sure as hell didn’t trust Peter. The kid was constantly putting himself in harm’s way to save others.

He never did regret pulling the kid into any of this, though. Peter was safer wearing the suit Tony made him and having Iron Man keep tabs on him.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y., inform me when Spider-Man returns to his house for the night.”

“Yes, boss.” 

Tony always waited up until he knew the kid was safe at home. It helped keep him sane. He remembered the first few nights after he met Peter. He hadn’t been able to sleep, sick with worry. He didn’t want to fall asleep and have the kid in trouble and needing his help, or worse.

Tony retreated down to his workshop to keep himself busy until F.R.I.D.A.Y. told him that Peter had made it home okay. He decided to come up with some more ideas for Peter’s suit. He wanted to have things to do in case Peter did decide to come over after school tomorrow. He knew it might be awkward at first between them, but he certainly wasn’t going to do nothing. He was going to try harder than his own dad ever had to make sure that their relationship was okay.

He was in the process of testing the flexibility of different metals when F.R.I.D.A.Y. interrupted him.

“Boss, it appears that Spider-Man has been below the surface level for 20 minutes, and he remains unresponsive.”

What the hell? He was expecting her to say that he was safe in bed, not that he was unconscious. 

Unless he wasn’t.

Nope, Tony wasn’t going there.

The suit quickly assembled around him as he tried not to be consumed with worry. Once the suit had finished assembling, he quickly took off, heading towards the coordinates that F.R.I.D.A.Y. had automatically sent to his suit without needing to be asked. 

He tried patching through to Peter, but Karen had answered instead.

“I’m sorry Mr. Stark, but it appears that Peter has had Scopolamine enter his system. Once he wakes, he will likely be hallucinating and will have lost his sense of self-control.”

“Karen, are there any people near Peter or anyone who wants to harm him?”

“No, it seems as if the criminals have fled the scene once they knocked Peter unconscious with the Scopolamine. The authorities have arrived on the scene and will find him in approximately 30 seconds.”

Shit. He did not need the police to find Spider-Man and decide to take off the mask. He knew that Peter wanted his identity a secret. It could be bad, very bad if that mask came off.

Tony pushed his suit as hard as he could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! This chapter was shorter than I originally wanted it to be, but I wanted to post something. Instead of one long chapter, I'm breaking it up. I'm thinking I will either have one or two more chapters because I want to end this story a certain way. Thanks for reading, please tell me what you think! I'll try to update soon!


	3. Part Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's back. Back again.

Peter didn’t remember much. He remembered that he was trying to stop some bad guys, then he felt really funny. Like super funny. He remembered that someone came for him. He remembered drifting in and out of consciousness.

 

He opened his eyes and groaned as he regained consciousness. He felt really crappy. Why did his head feel so funny?

 

“Peter, are you awake?”

 

He looked over to his side to see Tony sitting next to him. The man was sitting on a chair next to his bed. Bed? Peter sat up and looked around, confused. How did he end up here?

 

“What happened?”

 

Tony said, “You must be having some confusion, just a side effect of the drugs. Don’t worry, I took care of it.”

 

“Oh no,” he took drugs? This was not good. This was very not good. He couldn’t remember the word for not good. Oh right, bad. This was bad.

 

Tony leaned forward in his chair, starting to look worried. He asked, “What is it Peter?”

 

Peter let his head fall back on the bed and said, “May is going to kill me. She told me not to do drugs and I promised her I wouldn’t.”

 

A smile cracks across Tony’s face and he says, “Don’t worry, I took care of that too.”

 

“I called you Dad.”

 

Oh shit. He had not meant to say that. Why wasn’t his mouth filter thingy working? Now he felt like crying. He felt tears pool in his eyes. Why couldn’t he control himself? What is happening with him?

 

Tony’s eyes widened as he saw Peter’s tears. That made Peter cry more.

 

“Oh, um,” Tony stuttered. Apparently he didn’t know what was going on, either.

 

“Peter, it doesn’t matter. I don’t care about that, I care about you. I don’t care if you call me Dad, that doesn’t bother me. I’ll admit I was a little shocked at first, but I was never mad at you for calling me Dad.”

 

Peter sniffled, his crying had slowed. He said, “I’m sorry.”

 

Tony looked confused and asked Peter, “For what?”

 

Peter shrugged and said, “I don’t know.”

 

That got a real laugh out of Tony. Soon, Peter was laughing too. He didn’t understand what was so funny but he couldn’t stop himself. It was like his mind wanted him to do one thing and his body did the complete opposite.

 

They both finally stopped laughing. Peter yawned, hard. He was tired.

 

Tony said, “You should lay back down and get some sleep. The drugs still need to work their way out of your system.”

 

Peter did as he was told and shut his eyes. He said, “Thanks, Dad.”

 

He felt a blanket being covered over him and a hand brush the hair off his forehead before he fell asleep.

  


 

 

 

“In other news, police have released an official statement of an incident involving Tony Stark’s Iron Man and New York’s vigilante, Spider-Man last week. The statement reads, ‘Authorities were responding to a call of a drug deal and headed to the location. As they arrived, people were fleeing the scene, who were arrested. Police entered the building to find two men, one woman, and the vigilante known as Spider-Man. Police apprehended the two men and one woman. As they went to check on Spider-Man, an Iron Man suit flew through the open door and quickly stepped in front of Spider-Man. Tony Stark (Iron Man) said that he would ‘take care of’ Spider-Man. He picked up Spider-Man and flew back out the door with him. In total, seven people were arrested.”

 

Tony turns off the tv and focuses back on the pan in front of him. He’s attempting to make a lasagna. Steve said he would visit Tony some time to talk about Thanos. Steve said he would contact him once he was in the city, but Tony did not know when that would be. He does not want the talk to get personal at all. That’s why he’s going to make the lasagna. As a last resort he’ll just tell Steve all about how he made it, if it comes to that. For that to happen he has to know how to make it.

 

He had already screwed up four pans. Fifth times a charm?

 

Tony feels a slight breeze, so he turns around to check it out. He finds an open window and walks over to shut it. He does not know who opened the window. They would have had to have FRIDAY unlock for them unless they hacked into her, which is never a pleasant thought. FRIDAY always alerts him if someone is trying to get into the system, so she must have let someone open the window.

 

Tony asks as he reaches the window, “Is anyone here FRIDAY?”

 

“You are the only one in your suite,” she replies, seeming a little smug.

 

He finds a manila envelope sitting on the window suit. He picks it up and shuts the window.

 

“Scan FRIDAY.”

 

“The package has already been scanned, it is safe for opening.”

 

People don’t usually send him packages, the last time he got anything through snail mail was when Steve sent him that phone. Although this was just dropped off.

 

He opens the envelope and pulls out a piece of paper. It is a drawing of Iron Man. It looks like a two-year-old drew it. Written in crayon it says, ‘Thanks for saving me!’ He flips the paper over to find much neater handwriting that reads,

 

‘I may not have known what to call you these past few weeks, but you have always been and always will be my hero. Thank you for everything.’

 

The bottom of the page has a much nicer drawing of Spider-Man’s mask on it. He smiles, knowing exactly who this is from. He walks back over to the kitchen.

 

His own father never hung any of his own drawing on the fridge, but he did everything he could to not be like that man. He was going to break the cycle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that's probably disappointing but that's where I always pictured it going. Thank you to everyone who read this story! Let me know what you thought of it!

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I'm going to do at least one more part to this story, but it could end up longer than planned depending which direction I take. There will be either one or two more parts. Please tell me what you think! Thank you for reading!


End file.
